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Supernatural
Supernatural is an American paranormal drama television series, filmed in Vancouver, Canada, that debuted on September 13, 2005 on the WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup, where the show's eighth season aired in October, 2012. The show follows brothers Sam and Dean, played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles respectively, who travel across America in a black 1967 Chevy Impala investigating and combating paranormal events and other unexplained occurrences, many of them based on American urban legends and folklore as well as classic supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. Characters 'Hunters' *Dean Winchester (season 1 - present) *Sam Winchester (season 1 - present) *Bobby Singer (season 1-7) *John Winchester (season 1-5) *Mary Winchester (season 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6) *Ellen Harvelle (season 2, 5 and 6) *Jo Harvelle (season 2, 5 and 7) *Samuel Campbell (season 4 and 6) *Garth Fitzgerald IV (season 7 and 8) 'Angels' *Castiel (season 4 - present) *Lucifer (season 4, 5 and 7) *Gabriel (season 2, 3 and 5) *Zachariah (season 4-5) *Anna Milton (season 4-5) *Balthazar (season 6) 'Demons' *Azazel (season 1, 2, 4 and 6) *Ruby (season 2, 3 and 4) *Lilith (season 3-4) *Meg (season 1, 2, 5 and 8) *Crowley (season 5 - present) *Abaddon (season 8) 'Other Characters' *Jessica Lee Moore (season 1, 2 and 5) *Chuck Shurley (season 4 and 5) *Adam Milligan (season 4 and 5) *Lisa Braeden (season 3, 5 and 6) *Ben Braeden (season 3, 5 and 6) *Jody Mills (season 5, 6, 7 and 8) *Kevin Tran (season 7 and 8) *Charlie Bradbury (season 7 and 8) Main Villains *Azazel (season 1 and 2) *Lilith (season 3 and 4) *Lucifer (season 5) *Raphael (season 6) *Crowley (season 6 - present) *Eve (season 6) *Dick Roman (season 7) Seasons *Season 1 (2005 - 2006) *Season 2 (2006 - 2007) *Season 3 (2007 - 2008) *Season 4 (2008 - 2009) *Season 5 (2009 - 2010) *Season 6 (2010 - 2011) *Season 7 (2011 - 2012) *Season 8 (2012 - 2013) *Season 9 (2013 - 2014) Spin-off series 'Ghostfacers' The growing popularity of "amateur spook-hunters" Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spangler prompted Kripke to consider a spin-off series for the characters. He discussed the idea of an online venture with actors A. J. Buckley and Travis Wester, and held a successful meeting with studio and network executives. Though Kripke announced their plans to produce "some new material, either webisodes, potentially cell phone content or basically an off-network Ghostfacers series" at the 2008 Comic-Con, the economic downturn delayed production until 2009. Buckley and Wester, along with Patrick J. Doody and Chris Valenziano, penned the series. They found the format—ten three-minute segments—difficult to manage because each webisode has to work both individually and as part of the overall storyline. However, Wester noted, "We couldn't get too indulgent, we couldn't delve into long conversations. That helps not only with the storytelling but with the comedy... With drama, it takes time to establish an emotional connection with the characters. With comedy, you can jump right in. Though an initial idea of Kripke's involved the cast searching real haunted houses, the first season instead features the Ghostfacers investigating a haunted theater. The series also stars Brittany Ishibashi as Maggie and Austin Basis as Spruce. Buckley shares a manager with Kelly Carlson, and she accepted the guest role of the ghostly actress Janet within half an hour of reading the script. On October 23, 2011 A. J. Buckley posted on his Twitter account a link to a special webisode in which the Ghostfacers meet Castiel, first shown during the Hell Hounds 2009 Con. 'Supernatural: The Anime Series' On June 9, 2010, the official Japanese Warner Bros. website announced an anime version of the series entitled Supernatural: The Animation (スーパーナチュラル・ザ・アニメーション), which debuted in Japan in January 2011 and is produced by famed Japanese anime studio Madhouse. Shigeyuki Miya and Atsuko Ishizuka are co-directors for the series, with Kripke credited as the project creator. Madhouse co-founder Masao Maruyama serves as executive producer, with Naoya Takayama supervising the scripts and Takahiro Yoshimatsu designing the characters. Yūya Uchida and Hiroki Touchi, who voice Sam and Dean for the Japanese dub of the live-action series, reprise their roles. The anime's first season consists of 22 episodes; while the storyline covers the first two seasons of the live-action series, it also includes original content exploring the Winchesters' childhoods and expanding upon secondary characters. Warner Home Video released the first two episodes on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on January 12, 2011; episodes 3 through 12 shipped on February 2, and the rest on April 6. Warner Home Video released the Blu-ray and DVD box sets of the anime series on July 26, 2011 in North America. Jared Padalecki voices Sam in the English language version of the series, while Jensen Ackles voices Dean only in the last two episodes due to scheduling reasons; Andrew Farrar voices Dean in English for the first 20 episodes. 'Samuel Colt' During production of Supernatural's third season, Kripke stated that the writers sometimes discussed the possibility of a prequel series. Set in the Old West, the spin-off would follow Samuel Colt and a group of hunters. Good to know *Many of the episodes are based on existing legends, myths, and ghost stories. For example the episode "Crossroads" is based in part on the legend of Robert Johnson - who in turn borrowed it from another Blues singer. *Many episodes are either named after movies ("Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things", "The Usual Suspects", "I Know What You Did Last Summer") or classic rock songs ("In My Time of Dying", "Born Under a Bad Sign", "What is and What Should Never Be", "Sympathy For The Devil", "When The Levee Breaks"). *The character of "Bobby Singer" was named after executive producer Robert Singer. *The original concept had a reporter going to investigate the urban legends and writing about them in his column instead of having the Dean and Sam concept. *Originally Jensen Ackles auditioned for the role of Sam Winchester. When Jared Padalecki came in and read for Sam a slight recasting was done. Producers called Jensen and asked if he'd rather use his charm for Dean, saying he was the Han Solo character of the duo and what kid didn't grow up wanting to be Han Solo? Jensen accepted. It became known that he was previously interested in that role, because Dean was funny. *There is a particular clock that shows up in almost every episode. *The role of Ruby was written for Kristen Bell. But she turned it down, Katie Cassidy was cast instead. *Jim Beaver's character (Bobby) was only supposed to make a one-time appearance. *Both Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles auditioned for the role of Superman/Clark Kent in some form. Padalecki was a finalist for director McG's reboot while Ackles was the second choice to play a young Clark Kent in the show Smallville. Jensen was later cast as Jason Teague in Season 4. 'Cultural impact in other media' *The leader of Marvel Comics' X-Factor team, Jamie Madrox, claims that all of his knowledge of the mystic arts, including how to use rock salt to keep otherworldly forces away, comes from "being a gopher on 'Supernatural' for six months". *The lead character of Elizabeth Gannon's novel Electrical Hazard, is a fan of the show and references it throughout the novel and the others in the series. Most notably, an argument over the merits of the show is what prompts the final confrontation with the novel's villainess, because "No one insults Dean Winchester!".